Shoulder pain patients often have poor scapula control. Is their shoulder pain caused by poor scapula control, or is their scapula dysfunction caused by shoulder pain?

When your patients present with shoulder pain, should your focus be on scapula control, glenohumeral control, or treatment of the neck and thorax?

In this podcast, David Pope talks to Ann Cools, a Physiotherapist and Head of Education for Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy at Ghent University in Belgium, and is also the founding member and president (2010–2012) of EUSSER - European Society of Shoulder and Elbow Rehabilitation. We discuss in detail assessment of the scapula, the role of the scapula in shoulder pain and how to retrain unruly scapulae.

Other topics covered in this podcast include:

Research by Ann Cools

What we currently know from the research about the role, movement and control of

the scapula

Scapula dyskinesis - what is it

Static vs dynamic assessment of the scapula

Altering muscle balance and timing with specific exercises

How altering scapula mechanics effects muscle balance around the shoulder